As we ring in this new decade, we are busy keeping an eye on anime trends, which includes sampling all the new anime released this January. We’ve delighted in the good and suffered through the bad to bring you this list of new shows to keep an eye on. Each mini-review highlights one of our top recommendations for this season, based on the first episode of the series. We can’t predict how the full series will turn out, but we’ll summarize the episode and analyze the good and bad points of each show.

What you can expect to see listed here: new quality shows of any genre, so long as they have high production values, interesting premises and enjoyable stories. What you generally won’t find here: the latest oversexed harem show, sappy shoujo fluff, or combat-oriented shonen.